Mayor’s office orders cleanup while city waits for ISP to dispose of remains of meth lab.

Stephanie Gattmansgattman@etruth.com

ELKHART — Trash bags on the edge of the road may not be dirty diapers and food scraps. As city officials and a volun-teer at the Elkhart Environmental Center found out recently, it could be the rem-nants of a meth lab.

And local police and firefighters don’t have the training to clean them up.

City Councilman Ron Troyer, D-4th, was driving around his district March 27 with the new community affairs officer at the Elkhart Police Department, Sgt. Wayne Bias. Among things they looked at was trash dumped along the side of Per-kins Street on city property at the Elkhart Environmental Center.

A number of trash bags and tires sat just below and within 15 feet of a sign that warns of a $2,500 fine for dumping trash, Troyer said.

The Elkhart Street Department was asked to pick up the trash, but Commis-sioner Marty Morgan told Troyer it was determined the trash was actually meth trash and it was tagged with yellow rib-bons to be picked up by the Indiana State Police, which has a special unit to dispose of meth labs.

“I just figured job done,” Troyer said.Troyer brought up the concern at the

city council meeting on April 2 to inform other council members.

“There’s four to five bags. It’s public ... (on) city property on the side of the road. It’s not back in the woods or anything,” Troyer said Tuesday.

The Elkhart Police Department’s report on the meth trash is dated 9:30 a.m. April 3, when a volunteer from the Elkhart Envi-ronmental Center reported it. “When she looked at it, it was immediately apparent it was meth trash,” said Assistant Chief Tim Balyeat.

The remains included tubing, tin foil, psuedophedrine, bottles with liquid in them and cakes of white powder residue, Balyeat said.

“The police department is not trained, is not equipped and does not have the storage facilities” to deal with meth labs, he said.

The report states that the supervisor contacted ISP at the scene and was told to “‘leave the materials where they are’” and that it would be cleaned up by Tuesday, Balyeat said. The scene was marked with orange tape to identify the materials.

While it wasn’t an active lab, there’s still a concern for the public’s health and safety, Balyeat said.

Councilman David Henke, R-3rd, was

No roadside pickup for Elkhart’s ‘meth trash’

Truth Photo Supplied

Meth lab trash was found along Perkins Street on March 27, but clean-up stalled be-cause local police don’t have the training or facilities to deal with hazardous materi-als like those used in making meth.

Truth Staff

Lt. Laura Koch and Assistant Police

Chief Tim Balyeat of the Elkhart Police

Department recommend not handling

suspicious trash if you find it on the

side of the road or during your spring

cleanup activities.

“Contact us so we can deal with it

appropriately,” Koch said.

While local police don’t want to

handle the meth trash, “We don’t want

them to handle it either,” Koch said of

the public.

Cpl. James Ballard and Cpl. Scott

Garvey were hospitalized a little more

than a year ago after they were ex-

posed to a mobile meth lab during a

traffic stop.

At a public training session a month

later, Ballard explained people should

be on the lookout for plastic bottles

with black and silver specks of lithium

floating in liquid with residue on the

bottom.

When lithium comes in contact with

water, it ignites and explodes.

Broken batteries, blister packaging,

starter fluid, coffee filters with white

residue, 20-ounce bottles with tape

and tubing and a distinct ammonia

smell are tell-tale signs as well.

Call the Elkhart Police Department

at 295-7070 if you find suspicious

trash.

Don’t pick up suspicious trash

Demand for midwives grows, but Indiana law about licenses is too strict, protesters say.

Associated Press

LaGRANGE — The arrest of a north-ern Indiana woman on midwifery charges sparked a protest that high-lights a long-running push in the state to legalize the practice of certified pro-fessional midwives.

Nearly 100 women, men and chil-dren protested Monday outside the LaGrange County Courthouse in sup-port of Ireena Keeslar, a Howe resident who was arrested March 31 on a felony charge of practicing midwifery without a license.

Many of the protesting women held babies that had been delivered by unli-censed midwives, and some wore blue T-shirts reading “License my midwife”

and “Liberty for midwifes.”Keeslar, who was arrested March 31,

has since been released on a $10,000 bail. The Goshen News and The News-Sun of Kendallville report that she’s the second midwife in LaGrange County arrested recently on the charge.

Jeannie Stanley of Albion was ar-rested March 9 on a probation viola-tion and has also been charged with the same felony count of practicing midwifery without a license.

Prosecutors said they became aware of Keeslar during an investigation into the 47-year-old Stanley’s alleged pro-bation violation. Authorities allege that Keeslar assisted at a home birth in which medical procedures were per-formed without proper qualifications.

Keeslar, 49, was scheduled to have her initial hearing Monday morning,

Protest follows LaGrange midwife’s felony arrestTickets are still

available for Friday’s Willie Nelson show at the Lerner Theatre. General Manager David Smith said there are about 200 tickets left, but they’re going fast.

Smith said the theater sold 30 tickets on Monday, and he expects the show to sell out completely. The remaining tickets cost $59.85 and $69.85.

“It was very strong on the front end, and as it gets closer to the date and as families budget

differently, individuals realize it’s an opportunity to take advantage of,” Smith said.

Tickets went on sale Feb. 24. For information call 293-4469 or go to www.thelerner.com.

Willie NelsoN tickets still oN sale

Truth File Photo By Jennifer Shephard

Friday’s Willie Nelson show at the Lerner still has open seats.

School board appoints new superintendent with experience in communities similar to Elkhart.marlyS Weaver-StoeSzmweaver@etruth.com

ELKHART — Elkhart’s next superinten-dent has a history of working in schools in economically challenged and diverse com-munities and is looking forward to leading Elkhart Community Schools.

The Elkhart School Board appointed Robert Haworth the school corporation’s next superintendent at its meeting Tuesday night. Haworth will begin in the position July 2 with current Superintendent Mark Mow’s retirement.

Haworth said in an interview Tuesday that he’s excited to be a part of a school corporation facing challenges but where positive things are also happening.

“I really would like to be a part of helping make that a very successful story,” he said.

Haworth, 46, has been the assistant su-perintendent of student and employee ser-vices at Valparaiso Community Schools for the past two years. Before that, he was the vice president of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletes. He has also served as the superintendent of Warsaw Commu-nity Schools and Springs Valley Commu-nity Schools and taught government and economics and was a basketball coach at Northeast Dubois High School.

Haworth graduated from Greenville College in 1988, later earning his master’s degree in 1996 and an administrative cer-tificate in 2000 from Indiana University Southeast. He received his doctorate from Indiana State University in 2004.

While superintendent of Springs Valley Community Schools in French Lick and West Baden, Haworth encountered an eco-nomic landscape not unlike Elkhart’s.

Those communities were suffering from high unemployment rates after the area’s furniture factories closed. Despite the area’s economic hardship, Haworth helped close the achievement gap between students re-ceiving free and reduced lunch and those paying for lunch.

While budgets do directly affect schools, Haworth said that it’s the by-products of fi-nancial hardship that school leaders need to examine.

“How does that affect learning? How does

Haworth will take reins at Elkhart schools

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